I called my parents this week and before we got into a conversation I blurted, "I need your help. I need your prayers. I'm trying to sort out pricing for my book and I need a miracle. I simply cannot figure out what's going wrong!" My parents don't know anything...
When Praise Blocks Progress
“You have really stepped up! You’ve done an excellent job adapting to difficult circumstances. Now we need a little more.” As I’ve said before, it’s important to reinforce and praise every step in the right direction when asking people to do something difficult. But what if you’re not getting the...
The Express Communication Checker
One of my clients was about to embark on a merger that would likely produce some layoffs and completely shift how employees would work. I was asked to review their communications. Mergers and acquisitions always produce fear. Therefore, I first checked that messaging would be high touch: Live, in-person, and...
Send the right signal
Once a year I go through my closet and pull out clothes I haven’t worn for years. They are just taking up space. I look around my office periodically and focus on items that have faded out of awareness. Is it time to remove some knick-knacks? Recycle printed articles I...
Strengthen Resilience with Stay Interviews
Building a change-resilient organization must be a data-driven endeavour. I’m a fan of well-designed engagement surveys but I love targeted interviews and focus groups to gather rich feedback about why people feel energized, tired, or disconnected. I’m working with a client to design a stay interview. Along with exit interviews, stay...
The Permanence Curve
When a change is first introduced, people often struggle to adapt. The challenge makes it attractive to work around the change or go back to old ways of working. "But I know how to do it the old way so much faster!" It's a fair argument. Your company is investing...
Leading Change is like Managing Cybersecurity Risk
Gartner recently released a fantastic keynote about managing cybersecurity and it resonated with the work we do to lead change successfully: 1. Resistance is like Ransomware: There is ALWAYS risk of an attack.Part of my consulting work involves teaching salespeople how to sell more effectively. In the technology industry, I coach them to...
Your Goal is not Go-Live
In her book Nonstop Sales Boom!, sales guru Colleen Francis writes about how the typical quota-driven quarterly cycle rewards the wrong behavior. Customers learn that salespeople are more willing to do discounts near the end of a quarter when the push is on to meet targets. The week after a quarter...
Avoid Change Heartbreak: Never Assume They Will Do It
You call all the leaders together and lay out the plan for a major change coming in six months. Lots of details. All questions answered. You explain that you will need their help to ensure employees get on board and take the required training. You get a strong thumbs up...
Debate! What’s Your Change Culture?
Two weeks ago, I featured an approach to stimulating team development, and you gave it a big thumbs up! So, here’s another. I’m intrigued by what people do, what they say, and how they respond to different situations. Noticing these variations gives me fuel for a constant flow of new models. People love...
